Most hockey players who make it to the NHL are very particular about their gear.
That goes for everything, top to tip, from the fit of the helmet, to the stiffness of the skate boot. For instance, Sidney Crosby has famously used the same shoulder pads and jock strap from his junior hockey days with the Rimouski Océanic, though they’ve been repaired and refurbished so many times over the years that it’s a Ship of Theseus question as to whether they’re still the same piece of equipment.
For Crosby, it’s all about comfort and familiarity, while other players are constantly trying new equipment to try to find every possible edge and advantage they can get.
For instance, Elias Pettersson changed the profile of his skate blade after his rookie season, looking for more grip in tight turns. Another example is Bo Horvat switching up the flex of his stick ahead of the 2022-23 season for the first time since he was a rookie to improve the release and power of his shot. He went on to set a career high with 38 goals that season.
It’s always intriguing to gain insight into how and why an NHL player uses the equipment they do. It isn’t always easy to get that insight, as players can sometimes be secretive about their gear.
So, you’d better believe I took notice when Bauer Hockey released a video on their YouTube channel with Quinn Hughes and his brothers in conversation with Patrick Kane titled “Revealing Equipment Secrets.”
In fairness, it’s maybe not as revealing as that title suggests, but there are still some interesting notes and funny moments, such as with Jack Hughes not-so-subtly poking fun at Kane’s receding hairline, prompting Kane to respond with a grin, “You’re 23, bud, be careful.”
In other words, enjoy that flow while you can, youngster.
But there are some interesting moments, such as their responses to the question of what piece of equipment they “tinker with the least/most.”
"It is so wet at our rink in Rogers"
Kane said he’s constantly fiddling with his elbow pads, trying to find exactly the right fit, where it’s simultaneously tight enough not to move on his arms, but loose enough to provide enough freedom of movement.
Quinn agreed that the elbow pads are an issue for him as well, though not entirely for the same reason.
“I deal with the elbow pads too,” said Hughes. “It is so wet at our rink in Rogers, I have to put them on the dryer every period. But then you don’t want it too tight because you want it to feel pretty loose out there.”
That in itself is noteworthy, suggesting that Rogers Arena is wetter than other rinks. The quality of the ice at Rogers Arena occasionally pops up, with Steven Stamkos once calling it the worst ice he’s played on in his life.
Hughes mentioning how wet Rogers Arena can get suggests that it’s a humidity problem, not necessarily the ice plant, which is among the older ice plants in the league. For optimal ice, you need 40 per cent humidity, according to an article from the Chemical Institute of Canada, and that’s a major challenge in Vancouver.
“In Vancouver during hockey season — which coincides with the rainy season — outdoor humidity stays above 80 per cent,” said Roberta Staley in that article. “It is virtually impossible, says [former Canucks manager of plant operations Mark Whol], to maintain optimum humidity when the arena doors open and more than 18,000 fans surge inside. To counter this, Rogers Arena blasts its air conditioning system (there are no de-humidifiers in the building), opening the dampers to let humidity out, preventing the formation of fog on the ice.”
"I'll throw baby powder on"
Beyond his wet elbow pads, Hughes also talked about issues relating to his stick.
“I tinker with my stick a lot. I use a new stick every game,” said Hughes. “Sometimes, when my grip tape gets sticky on my glove, and then I can’t move my glove, I hate that. So, then I’ll throw baby powder on. If that’s not working, I’ll use different tape on the knob.”
The baby powder might throw some hockey fans for a loop, but it’s actually a common hockey hack.
Having enough grip at the top of your stick is essential for a hockey player, as that top hand does most of the work, whether it’s stickhandling, passing, or shooting. Every player in the NHL tapes their sticks their own way, with different thicknesses of knobs at the top, but the general purpose is the same: to provide grip for the top hand.
The trouble is that sometimes hockey tape can provide a little too much grip. As the tape wears down, it can get sticky and doesn’t provide enough freedom of movement in the hand.
To combat this, many hockey players apply baby powder to the tape on the knob end of the stick to reduce that stickiness and friction. As an added bonus, it helps prevent the tape from damaging the palm of a player’s glove.
In fact, some players will just apply the baby powder directly to the palm of their gloves, like Jamie Oleksiak of the Seattle Kraken.
Players have been doing this for decades. Wayne Gretzky was known for applying baby powder to both ends of his stick, both the knob and the blade. Some suggested he did this for superstitious reasons, but it had a practical effect, as baby powder not only would reduce the tackiness of the tape, but would also help prevent ice from building up on the blade. Players typically use wax on their blades for the same effect, with wax lasting longer than baby powder.
As much as baby powder might help prevent damage to the palms of hockey gloves, NHL players still typically go through multiple pairs of gloves in a season.
In the video, Luke Hughes notes that he goes through a pair “every week-and-a-half, two weeks, probably,” while Kane surprised the Hughes brother by saying, I use a new pair every game.”
Not Quinn.
“I’ll use probably two pairs [in a season],” said Hughes. “I don’t use a lot at all.”
Maybe it’s the baby powder.
"I was praying for a goal"
The last question of the video is about the most memorable goals they’ve ever scored. Or, because it’s a Bauer marketing video, specifically the most memorable goal they’ve scored with a Bauer Vapor stick.
It leads to some fun moments, as it becomes eminently clear just how aware each player is of each other’s goals, with Kane immediately knowing what goal Jack was going to say — it was scored with Kane on the ice in overtime.
“When I zipped one right past your feet?” said Jack with a laugh. “When you were fishing?”
For a Canucks connection, that goal was scored on none other than current Canuck Kevin Lankinen.
Quinn picked a couple of his goals, starting with his very first in the NHL.
“I’ll go with the first goal,” said Quinn. “Like Luke said, get that thing off your back. I was probably eight or nine games in, not too long, but you want to get that thing out of the way. Nice goal, I thought.”
It was the eighth game of his NHL career, and it was a rocket of a slap shot from the point past Jonathan Quick.
Hughes had another pick, however.
“My best goal, probably my most relieved, was my fourth year, so last year,” said Quinn, giving away the game that this was filmed prior to the 2024-25 season despite just coming out on Thursday. “I had a point per game, but I didn’t have a goal. So I had, like, 30 assists in 30 games, and I was, like, two games away from breaking a record — not one you want to break — and I scored, and it was the best feeling ever.”
Jack immediately clocked which goal Quinn was talking about saying, “Didn’t you snap it bar down against San Jose?”
It was in the 2022-23 season in a game against the San Jose Sharks on December 27. It was his 30th game of the season, and Hughes had 28 points in 29 games up until then, all assists.
Quinn says, “It was actually a nice goal,” but that downplays just how phenomenal it was. Hughes skated laps around the San Jose zone before sniping the puck just under the bar from a tight angle.
“It was the most stressful thing ever, man,” said Hughes. “I wasn’t pre-game napping. I was like, ‘Oh my god, I haven’t scored a goal at Christmas.’ It was so embarrassing. I was praying for a goal like anything.”
You can see the relief on Hughes’ face after he scored, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it took him that long. Perhaps that’s why he spent the subsequent offseason completely reinventing his approach to the offensive zone, with a focus on scoring a lot more goals, which he did in the 2023-24 season, going from 7 goals to 17.
“Bo came up to me and asked if I wanted the puck,” said Hughes after the game with a smile. “It’s kinda funny but it’s not funny.”
As for the record that Hughes mentioned, it wasn’t one he was actually likely to break. The record for the most assists in a season without a goal is 29, held by Jimmy Thomson from the 1947-48 season. With just one more assist, he would have matched that record, but then he also would have needed to go the rest of the season without scoring a goal.
